A Guide to Teaching Introductory Psychology

A Guide to Teaching Introductory Psychology focuses on the
critical aspects of teaching introductory psychology to
undergraduate students. It includes ideas, tips, and strategies for
effectively teaching this course and provides useful answers to
commonly asked questions.

A concise and accessible guide to teaching introductory courses
in Psychology

Begins with an orienting history of the course· Evaluates
current trends in teaching and offers suggestions for developing
personal techniques

Addresses a number of relevant issues, including how to teach
difficult topics; linking course content to everyday experience;
developing and using class presentations, lectures, and active
learning ideas; and increasing interest in course topics

Supported by a website that provides links to useful websites
and handouts that instructors can use in their classes
(http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/teachpsychscience/lucas/)

Sandra Goss Lucas is Director of Introductory Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois. Her teaching awards include the University of Illinois Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the Alpha Lambda Delta Award for Outstanding Teacher of Freshmen. Her publications include Teaching Psychology: A Step by Step Guide (with Douglas A. Bernstein, 2004).

A concise and accessible guide to teaching introductory courses
in psychology

Begins with an orienting history of the course

Evaluates current trends in teaching and offers suggestions for
developing personal techniques

Addresses a number of relevant issues, including how to teach
difficult topics; linking course content to everyday experience;
developing and using class presentations, lectures, and active
learning ideas; and increasing interest in course topics

Supported by a website that provides links to useful websites
and handouts that instructors can use in their classes

“We are pleased to recommend this book as a meaningful addition to instructors' resource libraries. The activities presented are clearly suitable for introductory and advanced courses. Moreover, the suggested readings and an appendix that delineates teaching organizations and related conferences provide numerous opportunities for professional development.” (PsycCRITIQUES, March 2009)

"No course is more important to our discipline than the
introductory psychology class. Sandra Goss Lucas, the coordinator
for Introductory Psychology at the University of Illinois, brings
together the collective wisdom of her years of experience in
teaching and teacher training to deliver a wonderfully useful book.
If department heads want to evidence a genuine commitment to
teaching, they should give this book to all faculty and graduate
students involved in the teaching of this course. It is a treasure
house of good ideas from a great teacher."
–Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr., Texas A&M University

"Sandra Goss Lucas's book, A Guide to Teaching Introductory
Psychology will be invaluable for those teaching intro psych
for the first time, and even old codgers who have taught intro
psych more than 50 times will find new useful and interesting
ideas. My copy has 'Good', 'Neat' and other laudatory comments on
the margins of many pages."
–W. J. McKeachie, University of Michigan

“Sandy Goss Lucas offers instructors of Introductory
Psychology a fully-equipped, functional toolbox, filled with
specific, concrete details that can immediately be applied in
teaching. This toolbox will be most helpful to instructors teaching
the course for the first time, who will undoubtedly breathe a sigh
of relief when they realize that, far from being alone and
isolated, they are part of large group of people who readily share
their approaches, innovations, practices, and challenges. Seasoned
instructors will also find much in this book that will be valuable
to them, because the advice offered by Goss Lucas, the selection of
topics, and her concrete suggestions are all deeply informed by
classroom experience—she knows what works and what does not.
”
–Robert W. Hendersen, Professor & Chair,
Psychology, Grand Valley State University

Instructors

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